“Hey don’t worry; we’ll get you laid yet. It’s next on my to-do list right after Gray and I..”

“Ok, stop! I don’t want to hear what’s on your list for Gray. I’d like to be able to look him in the eyes again without imagining where his mouth or your mouth has been.”

Suzy laughed as they pulled in the driveway. Beth followed her in to pick up some clothing that she’d left, and within a few minutes, she had the house to herself. She flipped the television on in the bedroom and put on a music video channel. Soon she was dancing around the room. It wasn’t exactly graceful since she had to work with her cast, but hey, at least no one was around to witness the train wreck.

~~~

With fifteen minutes to spare, Suzy walked in the living room to wait for Gray. She had to admit that she looked and felt great. She was freshly washed, shaved and groomed. She thought Gray would really get a kick out of the design she’d managed to make in her downstairs area with her bikini shaver. She’d applied her favorite lotion to every inch of her body and the new green dress looked even better than it had in the store. She was wearing her one high heel, but had tucked a flat shoe in her purse in case she needed to change.

She could feel her nipples harden as the clock ticked seven. Gray should be here at any moment. Traffic was probably heavy on Friday between Charleston and Myrtle Beach. She got up to pour herself a glass of wine to take the edge off of the hunger that was humming in her body. Would they even make it to a restaurant without making love first? She’d missed him so much this week and heat was pooling between her thighs just thinking of the last time he’d been inside of her.

Suzy could easily picture Gray walking into the kitchen as he had the first time they’d made love. He’d mold his body to hers, pushing her against the counter. His big hands would come around her front to cup her breasts while his hot mouth would lick and nip down the curve of her neck. He’d then raise the back of her dress, lower her panties and part her legs. She’d hear his zipper lower and then the head of his cock would nudge against her sex. Still without saying a word, he’d surge into her heat to the hilt. He’d pound into her over and over and she’d be helpless to resist.

Suzy’s body was tight with desire, her fantasy had her so aroused that she was desperate to relieve the hunger that raged inside of her. Surely she could make it until Gray arrived. A quick look at her watch showed he was already fifteen minutes late. Oh screw it, I can’t even walk now, my clit is so sensitive. Suzy pulled her dress up and slid her hand into her soaking wet panties. As she flicked her fingers against her swollen sex, she knew it would only take a few strokes to make her come. She worked her throbbing clit between two fingers. She could almost feel the heat of Gray’s tongue sliding inside her as she increased the speed of her hand. Her body clenched, starting to crest as her orgasm washed over her. She continued to work her fingers, trying to relieve the exquisite pressure that still throbbed inside of her. Just as she was slowing her hand, another orgasm took hold of her as the release that she so desperately needed washed over her.

Limp with relief, Suzy sagged against the counter surprised that she’d just pleasured herself in the kitchen. Have I lost my mind? What was it that Nick had called it, barbequing alone? I think that was more like a four alarm fire. Good grief what if he or Beth had walked in? I’d never live it down. Of course imagining Gray walking in was enough to set her body humming again. She hurriedly grabbed another pair of panties from the bedroom and discarded the now damp ones. Another look at her watch showed it was almost eight. Where was Gray?

~~~

Suzy had roamed every inch of the house for hours it seemed. It was now after ten and Gray had never shown up. She’d called him and left several messages wanting to make sure he was ok. She’d even resorted to checking the internet to make sure there were no accidents reported locally. As midnight approached she had to look at an option that she’d tried to avoid. Maybe this was his way of telling her that it was over. One of the fastest ways to get rid of a woman that you no longer wanted was to stand her up on her birthday.

It was obvious that he was spending time with Reva and she was pregnant with his child. He was clearly torn between what he felt was his duty and Suzy. Maybe duty had finally won out. She couldn’t believe that Gray would just not show up though. You knew it was a mistake to show him how much you loved him. You gave him your heart and what if he doesn’t want it either? How many more times are you going to let someone crush you before you learn?

~~~

Suzy must have dozed off at some point. She had no idea how long she’d been sitting in the chair in the living room when the light being turned on woke her. She blinked like an owl, trying to adjust to the sudden brightness of the room. She was able to focus just as Nick walked by her towards the back of the house.

Almost as if he knew someone was watching him, Nick suddenly stopped and looked around. When he saw her sitting in the chair, he had almost a comical look of disbelief on his face. My God, did she actually look that bad?

Turning, he smiled and walked back to where she was sitting. As he drew closer, the smile slipped uncertainly from his lips to be replaced by a look of confusion and concern. “Suzy, what’re you doing sitting out here by yourself?” Then looking around he asked, “Where’s my brother?”

Bitter laughter spewed forth from her lips as she answered, “I don’t know Nick; your guess is as good as mine at this point.”

Nick crouched down on his knees, squatting in front of her. “Did you two have a fight or something? I can’t believe he’d just bail on you like that.”

“No….He’d have to show up for us to fight. I haven’t seen your brother tonight. I guess he had a change of plans. Nice of him to call, right?”

Alarm crossed Nick’s face as the impact of her words sank in. “Suzy, that’s not like Gray. Have you tried to call him?”

“Of course I have, Nick,” Suzy snapped.

Suzy couldn’t miss the hurt expression that crossed his face at her nasty tone. She took a deep breath trying to remember that although they were brothers, Nick had never been anything but good to her. “Nick, I’m sorry. I did try to call him several times, and he didn’t answer my calls or call me back. I also checked the traffic reports and there wasn’t any accidents reported.” Running a hand along the back of her neck trying to relieve the tension there, she asked, “What time is it?”

“It’s just after one. I’m supposed to fly out in the morning and needed to pick up some papers that I left here. I thought I could be in and out without bothering you guys. Suzy let me make some calls. This just isn’t Gray. Something must have happened.”

Fatigue was bearing down on her fast. She wanted nothing more than to slip under the covers and bury herself in the bed until she stopped hurting again. She gave Nick the best smile that she could manage and let him help her up from the chair. Her muscles were stiff from hours of sitting. He held onto her arm as she made her way to the bedroom and softly closed the door. She was safe in here. She didn’t have to look into Nick’s sympathy filled eyes. Or were they filled with pity instead? She didn’t even bother to undress; she simply pulled the covers back and curled up in a ball in the bed. Sweet oblivion reached out to claim her as she drifted of to sleep with a heart so heavy it was almost hard to breathe.

~~~

Nick paced the length of the living room as he reached his brother’s voice mail yet again. What in the hell was going on? There was no way Gray would abandon Suzy on her birthday without a damn good reason or at least he better hope he had one. He’d gotten pretty attached to her since he’d moved in to help out. He’d never let anyone hurt her and that included his brother. Just as Suzy had said, Gray wasn’t answering his phone nor returning his messages or texts.

With a sigh of resignation, Nick knew it was time to bring out the big guns. He was going to be forced to call his parents and see if they knew what was going on. It was either that or take off to Charleston himself. Too bad he hadn’t saved Reva’s number all those times she’d called him looking for his brother. Surely he wasn’t with her, though. Just the thought of it made him sick.

Nick walked outside onto the balcony to make the call to his parents. He didn’t want Suzy to overhear the call in case something had happened. He was grateful to hear his dad’s voice on the other end of the line. As he explained the situation, he could hear the concern in his father’s voice as he fired off a series of questions. Nick answered everything he could, which wasn’t much. His father promised to do some checking and call him back.

A bad feeling settled over him. He didn’t think his brother was hurt, but he did think he was in trouble. There was no way his brother could love someone like Gray loved Suzy and at least not call her to let her know what was happening. You just didn’t leave someone you loved hanging like that. Man, where was Gray going with all of this? He was very close to losing Suzy if he hadn’t already.

Nick jumped when his cell phone rang. His father skipped all small talk and got right to the point. “I called Reva’s parents when I couldn’t get any answers elsewhere. Apparently Reva was in a car accident earlier tonight and is in the hospital. Gray is there with her. Everything appears to be fine now. She just has some bruises and they’re monitoring the baby’s vitals. I guess they were all pretty worried earlier when it happened.” Then releasing a weary breath, he said, “This is a damn fine mess isn’t it?”

“That’s an understatement if I‘ve ever heard one, Dad. Good lord, what is the world coming to when I’m starting to look like the considerate one in the family. I don’t care what happened, he should’ve called Suzy. It’s not like Gray to be such a prick.”

“I know son. Gray’s lost though. He’s always been a stickler about doing the right thing.” With a chuckle, he continued, “I have no idea where he gets that from.” They both knew that Gray was a carbon copy of him and that Nick was more like his mother. “I know he loves Suzy, but I don’t know if they can survive this mess. Gray will never walk away from Reva if that’s his baby and if she throws any kind of guilt at him then his sense of honor will demand he do what he thinks is right.

“I hear you snorting over there son, but you’re not so different. You may play hard, but you have as much honor as your brother. If you didn’t, we wouldn’t be having this conversation because you wouldn’t have bothered to call looking for Gray. Just do me a favor, son, learn a lesson from this. If you have to keep sleeping around, buy some damn decent condoms.”

“Dad, God can we please not discuss this now? We had this conversation once before and I never, ever want to discuss it again, ok?”

Nick smiled at his father’s first genuine laughter since their conversation had started. “You got it, but if you screw up, we will be having it again. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Love you, son.”

He made another call because unlike his brother, he’d no intention of leaving his woman to wonder what had happened to him. He briefly explained the situation and then decided to sleep on the couch for what was left of the night. He didn’t want to bother Suzy if she was actually asleep, but he wanted to be close in case she woke and wanted to know what he’d found out. He couldn’t stand the thoughts of two Merimon brothers abandoning her tonight.

Chapter Twenty Two

Ugh, the one bad thing about living near the ocean was the bright sunlight so early in the morning. Suzy pulled the sheet over her head trying to hide her eyes from the glaring light pouring in the windows. Finally she gave up the battle to return to sleep and slid her legs to the edge of the bed. Her mind fuzzy with sleep, she was surprised to see that she was still wearing her dress. What the hell? Then the night before came flooding back and Suzy dearly wished that she’d been able to block out the morning for just a bit longer. Where was Gray? Had he called? She reached for her cell phone on the nightstand. There were no missed calls or messages. Don’t jump to conclusions, there is a perfectly good reason and it has nothing to do with Reva. Suck it up and find out what’s going on. You can fall apart later.

Suzy grabbed her crutches from where she had left them the previous night and hobbled towards the door. She could only imagine how bad she must look after sleeping in her clothes and makeup.

She found Nick asleep on the couch in his clothes, as well. Apparently neither of them had had enough ambition to change last night. She leaned down to tug on his foot, shaking him gently awake.

Nick suddenly jerked awake looking around in confusion. “Wha…What the….Oh Suzy, you scared the heck out of me.” He slid his legs off the couch making room for her to sit.

Even though she wasn’t sure she wanted to know, Suzy decided to confront the elephant in the room. “Did you talk to Gray?”